Jorge Martin earns a provisional spot in Q2 after finishing 9th overall for FP1 and FP2. Nagashima occupies 15th place.

Red Bull KTM Ajo began their work at the Aragon Grand Prix on Friday, with the first two Free Practices of the 11th round of the Moto2 World Championship. Temperatures were cold in the morning, meaning the riders adopted a more conservative approach in FP1. With the weather conditions improving, in the afternoon Jorge Martin took a provisional place in tomorrow’s Q2 session by placing ninth. Teammate Tetsuta Nagashima finished 15th on the combined timesheets for the day.

Low temperatures and a light wind in the morning meant that both Martin and Nagashima took things steadily in FP1. The Spaniard showed a good pace nevertheless and claimed 10th – 1:54.107 – from his 16 laps of the Aragonese circuit. Nagashima dedicated his work in FP1 to bike setup for a track he knows well. After putting in 16 laps, the Japanese was 20th – 1:54.515 – in the practice.

Track conditions improved in the afternoon thanks to higher temperatures and thus the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 duo tried to make the most of the 40 minutes available to them in FP2. Martin did a solid job, improving his lap times with every stint and set a 1:53.325 on his 12th lap of 17, earning him ninth place. Nagashima finished 15th after stopping the clock at 1:53.775, contributing a further 17 laps to his tally.

A final Free Practice will be held tomorrow morning. Q1 for the Aragon Grand Prix will get underway at 3:10 pm, followed immediately by Q2 at 3:35 pm.

Results – FP1 & FP2
1. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Speed Up) 1:52.748
2. Marco Bezzecchi (Kalex) 1:52.793 +0.045
3. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 1:52.854 +0.106
4. Edgar Pons (Kalex) 1:53.017 +0.269
5. Luca Marini (Kalex) 1:53.048 +0.300
9. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:53.325 +0.577
15. Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:53.775 +1.027

88 JORGE MARTIN

“It was a good first day. We found it a bit tough to stop the bike on corner entry but, even so, we are doing a great job and the pace we set today was competitive. We have to improve our speed over a single lap, but we are ready to have a good qualifying session tomorrow. We will work hard to achieve a positive result this weekend.”

45 TETSUTA NAGASHIMA

“I think today was quite a positive day, as we were able to try out many different things. I’m not looking at the results, because my main objective right now is to regain a great feeling. In the afternoon, I managed to ride like I had been at the beginning of the season, so we have to continue working in the same way. I hope that tomorrow we can continue to take steps forward and qualify in a good spot on the grid.”